Freddie Roach, Manny Pacquiao insist the fire is still burning

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Manny Pacquiao, right, and Timothy Bradley during their WBO world welterweight title fight Saturday, June 9, 2012, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

In this Sunday, Nov. 24, 2013 file photo, Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines celebrates after winning his WBO international welterweight title fight against Brandon Rios of the United States in Macau. (Vincent Yu/The Associated Press File)

We’re still three weeks out from the April 12 rematch between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (on HBO pay-per-view). It’s highly anticipated because of the controversy from their first bout in June 2012 at that same venue.

Pacquiao appeared to absolutely win the fight. He was judged the split-decision loser.

That’s not all. There is a question of whether Pacquiao still has the same ferocity that had helped him rise to, or near, the top of the pound-for-pound rankings.

Bradley has told this newspaper he believes that is gone, that Pacquiao no longer possesses that viciousness. Bradley points to Pacquiao’s recent decision victory over Brandon Rios in China, where Pacquiao won big on the scorecards but seemed uninterested in really trying to stop Rios inside the distance.

You can expect Bradley to say words to that effect Saturday when HBO’s “Face-Off” with Max Kellerman premieres with the two fighters fielding questions and hurling comments at one another from across a small table.

Bradley already told yours truly that he urged Pacquiao on that show to say he would knock him out, but that he wouldn’t. Pacquiao’s heart has softened, is what Bradley intimates.

Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, this week scoffed at that notion from his Wild Card gym in Hollywood, where he is preparing Pacquiao.

“For Bradley to say, ‘Manny doesn’t have the hunger anymore and it’s never coming back’ and ‘Manny no longer has his killer instinct,’ that tells me that Bradley is still suffering from the concussion (Ruslan) Provodnikov laid on him,” Roach said.

After Bradley received no credit from reporters for his victory over Pacquiao, even getting death threats from fans incensed at the decision, Bradley defended the welterweight title he won from Pacquiao with a narrow decision over Provodnikov in March 2013 at Home Depot Center. Bradley, 30, ate a lot of heavy leather and said immediately after the fight he knew he had a concussion.

Anyway, part of the concern about Pacquiao is that he is now 35, and not everyone remains beastly at that age. Pacquiao also has had a lot of focus on his political career in the Philippines. He also has a family that wants him to retire, more than anything because of the way Pacquiao was knocked out in the sixth round by Juan Manuel Marquez in December 2012, six months after the loss to Bradley.

Roach insists, however, that Pacquiao is training hard and with a purpose.

“Manny started the week a little slow due to jet lag, but finished off strong on Saturday,” Roach said Tuesday, recounting Pacquiao’s first week of training after arriving a week earlier from the Philippines. “He was just brilliant in his sparring on Saturday. His footwork was effortless, his hand speed was blazing and his power is as good as it’s ever been.”

Pacquiao (55-5-2, 38 KOs), who has had major success in eight weight classes, has not had a knockout in his past seven fights, or since he stopped Miguel Cotto in the 12th round in November 2009 in a welterweight title fight at MGM Grand.

It would be terrific if Pacquiao is back to his electrifying self, as he has provided boxing fans with loads of hard-hitting thrills during his career.

He vows he’s still got it.

“Bradley said I lost the hunger, that I don’t have the firepower and I’m not going to get it back,” Pacquiao said. “I’m glad that he said it to my face and not behind my back. But he’s wrong. I am as hungry now as I was 10 years ago and I’m going to prove that on April 12.

“That’s what Freddie and I are focused on, proving Bradley wrong.”

Pacquiao probably only has a few fights left, and Roach wants him to go out with a bang.

“Manny is really motivated for this fight,” he said. “We decided no matter how many fights we have remaining, we are determined to run the table and win every one.

“And when it is over, it is going to be as world champion. And that can only happen with a total and absolute victory over Bradley.”

Arreola-Stiverne at Galen Center

A source close to the situation has told us that the May 10 heavyweight title fight between Chris Arreola of Riverside and Bermane Stiverne of Canada will be held at USC’s Galen Center and will be televised by ESPN.

Arreola and Stiverne will be fighting for the title vacated by Vitali Klitschko, who gave up his belt to focus on a political career in his native Ukraine.

Arreola, 33, is 36-3 with 31 knockouts. He is ranked No. 2 by the WBC. Stiverne, 35, is 23-1-1 with 20 knockouts. He’s ranked No. 1. The two previously squared off April 27, 2013 at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario. Stiverne decked Arreola in the third round on his way to a unanimous-decision victory by wide scores of 117-110, 117-110 and 119-108.

It was learned afterward that Arreola, who has a history of being a slacker in training, did very little work in preparing for Stiverne. Arreola redeemed himself to a degree by getting in better shape for Seth Mitchell and knocking out Mitchell in the first round in September at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio.

Arreola, for the second time, is going to try and become the first fighter of Mexican descent to win a major heavyweight championship. Arreola challenged Klitschko for his title in September 2009 at Staples Center, but was stopped after 10 rounds.

Etc.

Don’t miss the opportunity to see Sergey Kovalev of Russia defend his light heavyweight title against Cedric Agnew of Chicago next Saturday from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City (on HBO). Kovalev is a hard-hitting fighter who goes right after his opponents. With a record of 23-0-1 and 21 knockouts, he has a knockout ratio of 87.5 percent. Agnew is 26-0 with 13 knockouts. … One of the undercard fights on the April 12 Pacquiao-Bradley card will be Jessie Vargas (23-0, 9 KOs) challenging Khabib Allakhverdiev of Russia for his junior welterweight title. Vargas, of Las Vegas, will be in his first world-title fight. Allakhverdiev is 19-0 with nine knockouts. … Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin (30-0, 22 KOs) of Brooklyn will defend his middleweight title against Lukas Konecny (50-4, 23 KOs) of Czech Republic on April 19 at D.C. Armory in Washington D.C. The fight will be underneath the light heavyweight title-unification fight between Bernard Hopkins and Beibut Shumenov of Germany (in Showtime).